Dark Prince (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 1) [LARGE PRINT] (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: true life mate, insidious whispers, master vampire, Dark Prince, Christine Feehan, Father Hummer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A New York Times Bestselling Author

Prince of the Night. He came to her in the night, a predator - strength and power chiseled his features. The seduction was deep and elemental; he affected her soul. She craved the dangerous force of his body - and he had only touched her with his mind. Lady of the Light. She came to him at dawn, his bleakest hour. As the beast raged inside him, threatening to consume him, he vented his centuries-old despair and she answered, a ray of light, piercing his darkness.

From AudioFile

Enter Feehan's world of the paranormal, where Carpathians fight vampires and telepaths communicate with both. Raven Whitney, a telepathic hunter of serial killers, travels to the Carpathian Mountains for a little rest, hears telepathically Mikhail Dubrinsky's cries of loneliness and answers, only to find she is his life mate. Dubrinsky, Prince of the Carpathians, enchants Raven, while fending off a group of vampire killers who are attacking Carpathians. Juanita Parker performs Feehan's tale with wonder in her voice and passion at just the right parts. Sometimes the narration is matter-of-fact, but mostly it is laced with the enchantment Feehan brings to all her paranormal tales. Beware, the Dark Prince will enthrall you. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 472 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing; 1 edition (June 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587247046
• ISBN-13: 978-1587247040
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (238 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,998,391 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Dark Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

193 of 206 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Highly Sensual Series, August 24, 2003

By	Trisha A. Howell "Howell Canyon Press author" (Los Angeles, CA, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dark Prince (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Dark Prince is the first in the fascinating and highly sensual Dark series created by the very talented Christine Feehan. It is a world of mystery, danger, intense emotions, extraordinary psychic and physical power.

The Carpathians are a wise and ancient species, appearing just like humans except that they can live for millennia and have amazing psychic and physical powers. Only sunlight and violent wounding can destroy them. They sleep during the day, deep in the healing earth, and are awake at night, thriving in the darkness. They are in perfect harmony with the earth and all its plants and animals. They can shape shift into any animal and even become as fog. They move, travel and heal themselves with phenomenal speed. And they survive on human blood-yet they never kill the donor and gently wipe out his/her memory of their "feeding."

The male is a predator, dark and dangerous, and this darkness grows until he finds his life mate-the feminine light that perfectly balances and illuminates his darkness. If he does not find his life mate soon enough, the male gradually loses his emotions and his ability to see in color. He is condemned to a lonely, dark and despairing world devoid of all happiness. When he does find her, he regains his emotions and his world becomes brightly colored, full of joy and hope.

But for many hundreds of years no female Carpathians have been born, and few males have survived infancy. To make matters worse, many males who have not found their life mates have become so filled with dark despair that they have "turned," becoming vampires who can then feel exhilaration by murdering humans and Carpathians. Carpathian males have had to focus much of their energy on tracking down and destroying this threat to all life while themselves resisting the overwhelming temptation to turn. Some have tried to take human women as their life mates, but the women have gone violently insane when their bodies were converted to Carpathian and had to be destroyed.

When Dark Prince begins, Mikhail Dubrinsky, the very wealthy and handsome prince of the Carpathians, has decided to walk into the sunlight and thus end his life. He wields enormous power over himself, others and all the elements, but his extreme loneliness and despair at ever finding a life mate have become overwhelming. He can no longer bear to go on, even though he feels a strong duty to lead his people and to wipe out vampires from the earth. He is afraid that he will turn himself if he waits any longer. And then he hears a sweet female voice in his head-one of compassion and comfort.

Raven Whitney has journeyed all the way from America to the remote and beautiful Carpathian mountains for a much-deserved rest. She is a supremely gifted psychic who has assisted the police in tracking down mass murderers-a nauseating task that damages her body and spirit but which she undertakes because of her compassion for the victims. She is all that is light and goodness, and she reaches out to Mikhail when she feels his overwhelming loneliness and despair. She is herself no stranger to loneliness; she must keep as far away from other people as possible to avoid being bombarded by their thoughts and emotions.

Mikhail is astounded by this psychic contact and immensely enjoys the teasing banter Raven mentally projects to cheer him up. He travels to her in the form of a bird and, observing her, realizes that she is his life mate. But how can this be? She is human. And how can he convince a woman who doesn't even know that Carpathians exist that she is his life mate?

Mikhail and Raven embark on an extraordinary relationship-fun, tender and sensual-that keeps the reader riveted. In the meantime, they are faced with danger from a group of fanatical vampire hunters bent on killing anyone who's not human. Mikhail and Raven team up to stop them, but clash over Raven's determination to take an active role that often places her in grave danger.

As a Carpathian, Mikhail is extremely protective and highly possessive of this woman he loves with a passion that goes beyond the most intense human feeling. He is tender, gentle and caring toward Raven while utterly ruthless and violent with his enemies. He will faithfully cherish her forever and will himself die if she does. Once life mates unite, they cannot live without being in frequent contact with each other. But how can he live forever with a human or convert her to Carpathian without destroying her? And how can he protect her from evils she doesn't realize exist?

Dark Prince is a riveting story full of action, surprise, passion and the depths of love. Feehan has created a mesmerizing hero that every romance reader can fall in love with and the wondrous world of Carpathians that is fascinating to explore. I could not put Dark Prince down and am eager to read all the novels in this unusual and compelling series.

85 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This Vampire Romance Needed an Editor ... and a Plot, July 28, 2005

By	Dakota "daxydakota" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Prince (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I had expected to enjoy the vampire romance, DARK PRINCE, by Christine Feehan, having read so many raving reviews about it. However, I should have paid closer to attention to the reviewers who termed the book "repetitive" and "boring," as I agree wholeheartedly on both accounts.

The gist of the story, in one sentence, is that Carpathian vampire prince Mikhail finds his life mate, a human woman with telepathic abilities, all the while battling evil vampire hunters determined to exterminate his kind.

It took me 3 weeks to finish 314-page DARK PRINCE, and that is abnormal for me, since I usually finish a book within hours. It felt like torture, reading this book, and I only made myself finish because I always wonder if it might get better. It did not.

So what are some of my grievances?

Well, for one, there is no tension in the book. Mikhail and Raven are in love right from the start, and have sex like 5 or 6 times by page 100. Where is the conflict in that? Why should I continue reading it? Well, apparently the author felt the laughable subplot in which Carpathian vampires are being hunted by vampire slayers was actually interesting. Sorry, no. The vampire slayers (repeatedly referred to as fanatical assassins) are a bunch of one-dimensional characters who die so fast it's not worthwhile to remember their names. They don't make for interesting or compelling villains.

Two, this book was in dire need of an editor. How many times does the author need to refer to Mikhail's predatory movements and muscular body or to Raven's innocence and compassion? Other phrases that became grossly overused included "little one," "her narrow rib cage," "her large blue eyes," "her large blue-violet eyes," "silky hair," "his voice was black-velvet seduction," "I'm an American," "I'm intelligent," and (my personal favorite) "I have brains." Yes, we all do, thank you.

Three, Raven was a stupid heroine. The whole book was mostly exposition in which she is arguing with Mikhail about everything and everyone, punctuated with my favorite idiotic repetitions of "I'm intelligent" and "I have brains." No you don't, not when you throw yourself in danger at every single turn, resulting in near-death experiences for you and the people around you. The ONLY time I thought this book was interesting was when Raven was stabbed five times in the gut. I was so happy! And that is really, really sad.

So, as you can see, I pretty much loathed this book.

Now, interestingly, my paperback copy of DARK PRINCE came with a "bonus" 150-page short story called DARK DESCENT, which I was very, very reluctant to read at first. Luckily, that story had a plot and lots of action, plus interesting characters, so I finished it in about 2 hours. DARK DESCENT is about how Joie, an American bodyguard and psychic, goes exploring in a cave and discovers her Carpathian life mate, Traian, as well as a bunch of really nasty evil vampires who want to kill them. While the story had its super-cheesy moments (why do people feel compelled to call vampires "blood suckers"?), it still was fast-paced and interesting, much more interesting than DARK PRINCE. So at least I didn't completely waste $7.99 on the book.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christine Feehan has created a new genre: Carpathians, January 12, 2001

By	Stacey Timmins-Newman (East Northport, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Prince (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 1) (Paperback)

Not yet a vampire but not a human, Carpathians are of the earth and have the ability to control nature. Shapeshifting, mind control and their own brand of justice - these beings are unique, enthralling and terribly exciting! If you enjoy the darker side of romance, love with a slight chill running down your spine read The Dark Series!

Mikhail Dubrinsky is the oldest existing Carpathian, he is considered one of the Ancients - although he looks like a fallen angel. His power is incredible, his responsibilities are enormous and his law is absolute. Yet his destiny lies in the soul of one petite woman who is both exquisite and intelligent, not to mention human. Of course, what else would his lifemate be?

Raven Whitney never thought her psychic abilities would bring her the love of her life, nor did she realize he would change her life forever! The only thing she knew for sure was that she loved this arrogant, totally male being with all of her heart and there was nothing she wouldn't do to make him smile, unless he became too sure of himself... then she'd have to put him in his place :)

Come and join the family! Meet Mikhail and Raven, Jacques, Gregori, Byron, Celeste, Aidan and Julian... just to name a few! But beware: once you start there is no looking back! This is a series full of promise and love, and of course a Dark side!